oday’s readings and psalm refer to God’s love and commandments to love; not just to love those who are like us or the loveable, but to love the unlovable and even our enemy.
On September 13, 1993, Yitzhak Rabin and Yassar Arafat shook hands after signing the Oslo Accord, a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. When Yitzhak Rabin was bitterly criticized for shaking Yassar Arafat’s hand, his response was that you don’t make peace with your friends, but rather with your enemies. The Oslo Accord, though it unraveled, continues to inspire and offer hope for peace. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. He joined the many who transcended the fear of death in their pursuit of peace, justice, and the commandment to love.
Walking in God’s Way requires wisdom and courage to practice understanding, compassion, and forgiveness. It is a commitment to help and never to hurt. To never retaliate in kind to hostility, which only endlessly perpetuates enmity and conflict. Ultimately it is our only hope for salvation.
